Penny Black - A gift for you - BIL's birthday card

Hi blogging friends

First up:  a special welcome to my new followers - it is fantastic to have you onboard   - that's me jumping for joy!

Today, I am sharing a card I made for my brother-in-law's birthday.  If you have followed my blog for a while, you will have seen this dog image by Penny Black quite a few times before but I just love him for masculine cards for any age group.  He is so quick and easy to colour too which is a bonus.  And isn't it good when you have a stamp that you get plenty of value out of?!

 

I stamped the image with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink onto KW Doggett Knight white smooth cardstock and coloured it with Odourless Mineral Spirits and Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils and paper stumps, then chalked around the image with blue, brown and grey chalk for the sky/ground.  To make the tail look like it is wagging, I added a few strokes around it with a Staedtler Lumocolor 313 permanent waterproof brown pen.  I added a little bit of Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the green part of the present.  This main image panel is up on dimensionals.

 

The gorgeous background designer paper is by We R Memory Keepers - Friends Furever - Making Tracks which is layered onto kraft then brown cardstock.  I trimmed the edges to 1/8" with my Perfect Layers Tools.

 

As I had no matching brads in stash to put on my card, I made my own.  I saw a demonstration at a Craft Show late last year at the Alison Ellis Stand of how to colour your own brads to match your project.  I wrote the instructions down but can't find my book but from what I remember there are several ways of doing it.  Anyway, to make mine, I held the the prongs of a silver brad with a pair of closed tweezers, dabbed on some Versacolor Bark pigment ink then poured on some Alison Ellis clear detail embossing powder, tapped off the excess and heated the brad with my heat-gun.  Because I could still see a bit of silver, once the brad had cooled, I repeated the process 2 more times until I was happy with the look.   Probably the only downside, is that you need to be careful how much you handle the brad afterwards because the coating scratches off quite easily as I ended up needing to re-do one of them.   Maybe I should have left the brads for 24 hours to see if they hardened up a bit?  Or I might try coating the brad with clear nail polish or perhaps some spray varnish to protect it next time and see if that helps. 

 

Lastly, I added the ribbon and sewed on a red button.  I added some Fray Stop to the edges of the ribbon to stop them from fraying.  I couldn't figure out where to put a sentiment but I figured the image is self-explanatory anyway.

 

As I did with my last card, I did a quick and simple card inside:

 

 

The sentiment is by Penny Black and was stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.  I used a Fiskars Scallop border punch along the bottom.

 

Finished card size is 120mm square or about 4-3/4".

 

Challenges:

 

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

 

The Pink Elephant Challenge - TPE188 - Anything Goes

Allsorts Challenge #195 - Animals 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Jocelyn

 

 

Card Recipe:

 

Stamps:  Penny Black 'For You!' 3446E wood-mount, Penny Black 'Dog-gone Birthday' 1709E wood-mount - inside sentiment

 

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia, Versacolor Bark pigment (for brads)

 

Designer Paper:  We R Memory Keepers - Friends Furever - Making Tracks

 

Accessories:  Big Shot, Spellbinder Square and Scalloped Square Nestabilities, brown grosgrain ribbon, Fray Stop, Kaisercraft chalks, silver brads, heat-gun, Alison Ellis clear detail embossing powder, closed tweezers, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps, Odourless Mineral Spirits, red button from stash, red sewing thread, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, dimensionals, Staedtler Lumocolor 313 permanent waterproof brown pen, Perfect Layers Tools, Cardstock - kraft, brown earth, KW Doggett Knight white

 

Punches:  Fiskars Scallop border (card inside)

Bentley bear's birthday wishes

Hi blogging friends

The card I am sharing today is for my sister-in-law's birthday.  Ages ago, I got some adorable freebie Bentley Bear decoupage/papertole images and sentiments with an issue of the UK magazine 'Cardmaking and Papercraft'.  I love buying the UK cardmaking magazines because you always get some sort of freebie with them.  And being a teddy-lover, if there is some sort of freebie involving a teddy bear, I find the magazines hard to resist!

The image was handcut and then layered together with dimensionals.  I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the sprinkles on the cupcake that Bentley is holding plus the cupcake on the sentiment panel - and a dot on each wing of the butterfly - which you wouldn't know from the photo but trust me, it is there and looks so pretty in real life......sigh.....

Both the main image and sentiment are layered on a sheet of teal designer paper from the Bo Bunny 6" x 6" pad 'Sweet Tooth'.  The background designer paper is also from the same pad.  I inked around the edges of the teal designer paper that the sentiment is layered on with Colorbox Aqua pigment ink to help hide my slightly uneven trimming.

Here is a wee close-up so you can see the dimension on the card:

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I sewed on a pink heart button with some pink sewing thread to the bow centre then glued the bow onto my card with some fabric glue.  I added some Fray Stop to the ribbon edges to stop them from fraying.  Lastly, I added some Teal Sparklets to the top RHS of the card.  These Sparklets are from an EBay Seller in Thailand which you can see HERE.  I glued the Sparklets on with Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue (LOVE this glue!).

I decorated the inside of the card very simply using the same Bo Bunny designer papers and a Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge punch.  This was my first-ever edge punch and I still love it the most out of all my punches.  The heart underneath the sentiment was punched from pink glitter cardstock - which was really to hide the heart which is part of the sentiment stamp that I accidentally smudged - oh well:  at least it was fixable!  The sentiment is by Penny Black and is one of my favourite sentiments to put inside a card when I use a teddy bear image on the card-front.  I stamped the sentiment with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Splitcoaststampers - February Fan Club - you have to be a Fan Club member to play along with these monthly challenges

ABC Challenge - H is for Happy Birthday

Card Crafter's Circle - Challenge #63 - Teddy Bears on parade - because I came across this Australian challenge yesterday when I was blog-surfing and saw that the challenge was for teddy bears, it gave me the perfect excuse to break out my little Bentley Bear pack.  So glad I did - I just love little Bentley - soooo adorable!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fab weekend!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black 4028H - The teddy effect! - wood mount (inside sentiment)

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia, Colorbox Aqua pigment

Designer paper:  Bo Bunny Sweet Tooth 6" x 6" pad

Accessories:  Image - Bentley Bear from Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine - by artist Adam Pescott, pale pink ribbon, Fray Stop, Bow Easy, pink heart by Trimits, pink sewing thread, fabric glue, Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue, Perfect Layers Tools, teal sparklets (EBay), dimensionals, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, cardstock - kraft, white + pink glitter

Punches:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge, Carl CP-1 heart

Boofle - an engagement card

Hi blogging friends

My nephew recently became engaged and this is the card I made for him and his fiancee.  I must admit that this card really had me out of my comfort zone so it took alot longer than usual but I was lucky enough to have some "me time" at home - all by myself - which doesn't happen all that often with the constant care of my loved one.  I don't know why it really took so long to make my card as in the end it looks like a very simple design - but I always approach a different style with some trepidation - yep, I am a chicken and a bit of a one-trick pony and really just plonk the image in the middle or use similar layouts - but every so often, I get the urge to try something new.

I really love the Docrafts range of Boofle images.  There is just something so adorable about him.  He seems to have taken the world by storm as I see the knitted toys, cards, wrapping paper, mugs etc. everywhere and I was so pleased when Docrafts brought out their range of Boofle images for cardmaking which somehow seemed to fall into my shopping basket at The Glitter Pot (UK)....happy sigh.....

 

Boofle was handcut from the Docrafts Designer Decoupage Sheet which has around 24 different designs - great value for money.  I popped all the layers up with dimensionals.

 

Both the cream and pink designer papers are from one of my favourite ranges - Basic Grey Kissing Booth.  I ran the cream paper through my Big Shot using the embossing folder from Cuttlebug's Love Language combo set twice because the paper was too wide for the embossing folder (fortunately this was one of the folders that I could match up the design) - and the pink paper using the Jamara embossing folder (which is a large 5" x 7" folder) then sanded it lightly to add a few highlights.   I love the texture that the Jamara folder added to the card.  I added a strip of cream satin ribbon underneath then attached this to my Kraft cardstock base.  All the corners were punched with a Stampin' Up corner punch.

 

I stamped the sentiment onto the same cream designer paper using Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate ink - my new favourite brand of ink because the colours stamp brilliantly and give great coverage.  I added some Lippy Red rhinestones around the scalloped circle edge which was also diecut from the pink designer paper.  The sentiment panel is up on dimensionals.

 

Lastly, I tied some pink twine through a wooden button, added Fray Stop to the ends to stop the twine from unravelling, then glued the button on.

 

I think this card could double as a Valentine's Day card or for a Wedding Anniversary.

 

I am entering my card in the following challenges:

 

Incy Wincy Designs - add texture

My Time to Craft Challenge #208 - Decoupage

Simon Says Stamp - Have a Heart 

Splitcoaststampers - TLC416 - Dry embossing and sanding on patterned paper

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a fab Valentine's Day this week!

 

Jocelyn

 

 

Card Recipe:

 

Stamps:  Sentiment by Stamp-It Australia - siset014 foam-mounted sentiment set

 

Ink:  Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate

 

Designer paper:  Basic Grey - Kissing Booth

 

Accessories:  Boofle by Docrafts - Decoupage Sheet with 24 designs, dimensionals, May Arts pink button twine, Fray Stop, wooden button from stash, Spellbinder Circle + Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Big Shot, Cuttlebug Love Language embossing folder, Cuttlebug Jamara 5" x 7" embossing folder, Kaisercraft Rhinestones RS405 Lippy Red, cream satin ribbon 1 inch/25mm wide, Kraft cardstock

 

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

 

Penny Black Love Nip - Valentine's Day card

Hi blogging friends

Today I am sharing a Valentine's Day card.  It is AGES since I used the Magic Coloured Pencil/Gamsol Magic technique to colour an image, ie: Odourless Mineral Spirits with Prismacolor/Derwent Coloursoft pencils and paper stumps, having mainly used Watercolour Pencils in recent times.  I felt so rusty as it is a completely different technique to watercolouring and I struggled at first but got there in the end.  Glad I started with a simple image such as the one I used on my card!

I love this little cat - he makes me smile when I look at him - but I probably say that about all my Penny Black Margaret Sherry stamps!  I never get tired of them and they don't seem to go out of style.  I am still using Penny Black stamps that are 10 years old!  I recently had a clear out of my stamps - some look so dated and I am not sure whether I should try and sell them on EBay or just donate them to charity.  There's nothing wrong with them - I just wonder if it would be worth all the effort with the photographing, writing a blurb, paying to list them, then IF they sell, having to post them:  I feel tired thinking about it - and I am tired with the ongoing care of my loved one.  Anyone have any advice?  Is it better to sell them as one lot?  I haven't sold anything on EBay before - only bought things.   Anyway, onto my card...........

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto white cardstock and coloured it as per above, then lightly chalked around the cat with blue chalk for the sky and brown + grey chalk for the ground.  I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the hearts and the envelope.  The image looks a little washed out in the photo.  My camera never likes to photograph anything with pink - it just can't seem to cope with that colour and always washes out my image.  Cameras can be so frustrating sometimes!

All the layers on the card are designer papers from my Basic Grey 12" x 12" Kissing Booth collection.  I would usually use matching cardstock but as my set of Kissing Booth papers has quite a number of plain colours in it, I thought I would use them instead - and of course, they match the floral papers perfectly making the whole process a bit quicker.

The fancy diecut circle is a Nellie Snellen die - so pretty.  JUST A LITTLE TIP:  This main panel is up on dimensionals because when I had it flat on the floral background, it all but disappeared into the background designer paper, so by popping it up a bit, it stood out from the background and looked 100 times better.  I was actually quite surprised at the difference it made, so if a similar thing happens to you, try popping your image up.

The sentiment is from my Wendy Irving Expressions set - one of the most useful sentiment sets I have ever purchased and had for a few years now.   I punched a tiny heart from the pink designer paper using my Arrows border punch (the leftover punchies look like tiny hearts) and glued it next to the sentiment.

The ribbon on the side panel was attached in 2 separate elements and I added Fray Stop to the ribbon ends to stop them from fraying.

Lastly, I added 3 heart gems to the bottom right-hand corner.  These gems came on a small sheet of bling from Target (Australia) which is meant for decorating your mobile phone or i-Pod, but I use the gems for cardmaking instead as the sheets have quite an assortment of different shaped rhinestones and pearls.  I have seen them at Woolworths/Safeway as well and they cost about $2 - $3. 

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Penny Black and more at Allsorts - Love is in the Air
Bunny Zoe's Crafts monthly challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by! 

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Love Nip 3776F wood-mount, Sentiment from Wendy Irving Expressions clear set J6412.01

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Designer Paper:  Basic Grey Kissing Booth 12" x 12"

Accessories:  Big Shot, Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, Nellie Snellen MFD020 die (fancy circle - largest die in set), ribbon, Fray Stop, pink heart gems from Target, dimensionals, Kaisercraft chalks, Odourless Mineral Spirits, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps, Kindyglitz Crystalina, cardstock - KW Doggett Knight white

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border (for the tiny heart)

Wellington Bear - a Get Well card

Hi blogging friends

I made this Get Well card to give to my brother-in-law who has been unwell and thought one of the Docrafts Wellington Bear images would suit him to a T.  I really love this range by Docrafts and I bought quite a little stash to have on hand for those oh-so-hard masculine cards.  I have really been enjoying getting back into paper tole (or decoupage as you call it in the UK) after not having done it for quite a while but was so inspired by my blogging friend Merry's (from MerryMade Cards and Crafts) paper tole cards, that I bought a few diecut sheets last year and fell in love all over again.  You can see my other paper-tole Wellington Bear cards HERE and HERE.  I might add that Merry not only makes cards, but sews and does other craft - I am in awe of her crafting abilities! 

Wellington Bear image by Docrafts - copyright Hallmark

All I had to do was pop the pieces out of the diecut sheet, trim off any daggy edges and put them together with dimensionals.  The sentiment was also from the sheet.  I am sure you could use the card for a number of different occasions such as Father's Day or a birthday just by changing the sentiment and the diecut sheet comes with a range of sentiments which is great and makes it very versatile.  Note that the main image panel corners already had rounded edges but I corner-punched the blue designer paper backing.

The designer papers are from my Wellington Bear 6" x 6" pad.  I corner-punched the sentiment panel too, added some brads and popped the panel up on dimensionals.  All the layers were trimmed using my Perfect Layers Tools.

I found a beige heart button in my stash which seemed to be the perfect-not-over-the-top-for-a-man embellishment to the card.  I tied some string through the button holes then glued the button on with Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue.  Here is a wee close-up:

Wellington Bear image by Docrafts - copyright Hallmark

Lastly, I tied some Cappuccino twine around the card a couple of times then tied a bow.   The hardest thing about the card was taking a photograph because the multiple layers create big shadows which can look a bit weird and can detract from the picture.  Trying to angle the card in the sun to minimise the shadows usually ends up over-exposing the image and makes the colours look all washed out and no amount of fiddling with my photo editing software seemed to make much improvement.  Finished size is just under 5-1/2" square or if you are metric, 13.8 centimetres/138 millimetres.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenge -

The Squirrel and the Fox Challenge #35 - Anything Goes.  This is my 2nd card for this challenge as I entered my card from my last blog post in the challenge as well.  You can enter a maximum of 2 times for this challenge.

*******************************

Before I go, I thought I would share a few photos my cat Ruby.  Ruby has an orange mouse shaped tent which came FREE with a pack of IAMS cat pellets that I bought a while ago - and for once, she actually USES it to sleep in.  Of course, the other bedding that I paid MONEY for, she doesn't use.....typical cat!  There was some lovely morning sun shining through the window and she got a bit hot inside the tent, so stretched out on the floor in front of the tent.  Cats sure know how to relax and soak up the warmth, don't they?!  The 2nd photo, Ruby is back in her tent snoozing; I am sure she is dreaming something nice because she looks like she is smiling to me.

Aahhhh - it is so good to be a cat!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Designer paper:  Docrafts Wellington Bear 6" x 6" pad

Ink:  None

Accessories:  Docrafts Wellington Bear diecut sheet, Raw umber brads from stash, The Twinery Cappuccino twine, Heart button by Jesse James 'Dress it up' Country Hearts, button twine, dimensionals, Perfect Layers Tools, cardstock - raw umber, Crafter's Pick Incredibly tacky glue

Punches:  Stampin' Up! corner

Lili of the Valley Topper birthday card

Hi blogging friends

Edited to add:  This  card was featured by Lydia on the Splitcoaststampers Facebook page - WOW!  That sure made my day!  Thanks Lydia!!

My husband's family have alot of birthdays at the beginning of the year so I thought I would use one of my Lili of the Valley (UK) pre-coloured toppers which I bought in December when they had free postage (along with some stamps of course because I find them quite irresistible!) as an early Christmas present to myself. 

Am I cheating by using a pre-coloured image?  Even though using a topper saves you colouring an image, you do still need to plan out the rest of the card so from where I stand, I feel very comfortable using a topper.  And I put a lot of love in my cards and try and tailor it to suit the recipient.  I think you could use this topper for so many different occasions - Mother's Day, Friendship, Thank you, Thinking of you etc. - just stamp (or handwrite) a different sentiment on teddy's envelope.

As I wanted the topper to be round, I diecut it using my Cuttlebug and one of my Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities dies.  I couldn't really find the right colour cardstock to match the image so after a bit of a search through my designer papers, I found some old Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie 'Ella' papers and on the flip side of the flowers, was a nice, soft pink that toned beautifully with my card.  I decided to add a white diecut Scalloped Circle to the image as well and popped this panel up on dimensionals. 

I recommend that you use lots of dimensionals (or doublesided tape) if you are attaching something to a dry embossed panel as there is less surface area for the panel to stick to and in my experience, is more likely to fall off - which I learnt the hard way after handing one of my relatives a Christmas card one year which he popped on the window ledge, and whilst we were sharing our Christmas meal with family, two of the panels dropped off to my horror!  As I had already posted the same card to about 8 other people, I still wonder how many other panels dropped off!  Did they open the envelope and find a jumble of panels and thought it was some sort of weird Christmas jigsaw puzzle card?!  Oh dear........

I added 2 pink hearts around the image which were punched from a Martha Stewart Lace Heart edge punch and the designer paper; I used the leftover punched hearts.  Just the right size for what I needed.

As another Christmas present for myself, I bought one of the new Die-sire Embossalicious 6" x 6" square embossing folders by Crafters Companion from Joanna Sheen's website.  I was so thrilled when Crafters Companion released some square folders to suit us cardmakers who love to make square cards and I do hope they release some more, in particular, some Christmas designs.  You know, I never cease to be excited when I emboss a white card with an embossing folder and see it come out all pretty and textured - and it can really 'lift' a card and give it that 'wow' factor.  I used the Floral EF6 folder which I ran through my Big Shot.

The bottom pink border was punched using an EK Success Abstract Flower punch with the same pink designer paper along one edge of the paper which had a bit of a lacey design printed on it - and I think it turned out a bit prettier than just using the plain pink colour.  I did add a Scor-Pal line just above the punching so I had a straight line to butt the border up against the white cardstock.

I went to town with Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue around the pink circle, the hearts on the image panel, the tiny hearts printed under the butterflies, the heart on the envelope and the teddy's cheeks. Here is a wee close-up:

The envelope that the teddy is holding was blank, so I rummaged through my stash and found a tiny little stamp from my Popcorn the Bear 'Someone Special' stamp set and stamped it with Versamagic Pink Petunia chalk ink.

Lastly, I tied on some button twine after winding it twice around the card and added some Fray Stop to the twine ends so they wouldn't unravel.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

The ABC Challenge - E for Embossing - where you can use any sort of embossing such as embossing powders or folders

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - Something New - show off your crafting goodies you got for Christmas - mine is the topper and the embossing folder.  This challenge blog is an Australian one which I was very pleased to discover as I don't know of many Aussie challenges.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use it WT408 - New Year - make a card with your new toys - mine is as per above.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  'For you' sentiment from Crafter's Companion 'Popcorn the Bear' Someone Special set

Designer paper:  Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie 'Ella'

Ink:  Versamagic Pink Petunia chalk

Accessories:  Image by Lili of the Valley from Cuddly Teddies diecut sheet, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Circle + Petite Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, dimensionals, button twine - pink by May Arts, Crafters Companion Die-sire Embossalicious EF6 Floral square 6" x 6" embossing folder, Big Shot, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Scor-Pal, white cardstock

Punches:  Martha Stewart Lace Heart edge punch, EK Success Abstract Flower border

Glittery Snowflake Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

Here is my last Christmas card from 2012.  I am sure many of you will be very tired of seeing Christmas cards and moving onto something else.  I know that I am uber-keen to pack away the Christmas decorations which I will be doing tomorrow and I shall be quite happy to remove the Christmas pine tree as it is madly decorating my carpet with pine needles.  Mind you, our cat Ruby has helped that process as she sits there and chews the pine needles - ick - they must taste horrible - but she loves to chew just about anything and I wonder sometimes if she is part dog!

Again, like my previous post, I CASED one of my cards from last year because I knew the layout worked.  It is an easy layout if you want to make quite a few cards and you just change the main image to make each card look a little different:  

The gorgeous glittery snowflake was diecut from aqua glitter cardstock using my Big Shot and Spellbinder Snowflake die.  So much easier than diecutting plain cardstock and adding glitter afterwards - makes it super-quick with no drying time unlike glitter glue, and far less messy too!

The white centre on the snowflake is one of the dies from the Snowflake die set and was diecut from plain white cardstock.  Hmmmm, in hindsight, I think I should have added glitter to it or diecut it from white glitter cardstock - oh well!  I added a red rhinestone to the centre which mimics the dots in the designer paper then popped the snowflake up on dimensionals.

The sentiment was stamped onto the Little Yellow Bicycle blue lace designer paper with Sapphire Silk pigment ink and heat-set with satin pearl embossing powder.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge - CHNC #105 - Anything Goes - show any Christmas card that we haven't seen before or make a start on your cards for next Christmas.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use It WT407 - New Year's Resolutions from 2012 - what was yours?   One of my Resolutions from 2012 was to use more of my designer paper stash and to use what Christmas stamps I have rather than buying a whole lot more.  I am pleased to say that (even though I didn't make alot of cards in 2012), I did really well on both counts - and everything on today's card is old stash.

So what are YOUR resolutions for 2013? 

I want to have a whole lot less 'stuff' in my house and, in fact, I have been doing a massive purge these past few months and got rid of lots of things; it has made me feel so much better.  By this time next year, I would like to be able to say how much more space I have in my house and in my cupboards - and already, I am seeing the results.  It is hard work and everything looks worse to begin with - quite frankly, a great, BIG MESS - but when a truck leaves with a pile of stuff, you feel so liberated.

Currently, I am going through my late father's LP collection.  Dad passed away in 1996 and I inherited his record collection.  I don't play any of them - they are not my taste - but it has taken until now, some 16 years later, to feel that I can happily donate them to charity.  A few LP's I will sell to a 2nd hand dealer and donate the money to one of the charities who has supported us through caring for our loved one.  I am now wanting to remember Dad in terms of what a wonderful Dad he was - not by keeping a whole lot of 'stuff' that belonged to him.  Grieving is a process and in my experience you go through different phases as time goes by.  16 years ago, Dad's 'things' reminded me of him; now I am ready to part with many of those 'things' and move on.  I think perhaps I was afraid I would forget him if I parted with those 'things' - now I realise that nothing can ever take away my memories of him as they will forever be in my heart.

My other resolution is to continue to use up my crafty stash of papers rather than buying a whole lot more, do more sewing and in particular, sew some little felt kits that I recently purchased.  I also hope to make Christmas cards all year round instead of starting them so late in the year. 

I would also love to be able to get through the day WITHOUT spilling some food on myself - it's a running joke in my family - tee hee!  I am soooooo clumsy and ridiculously unco-ordinated!  Always tripping over something or bumping myself or knocking something over.  A few months ago, I broke 3 of our mugs in the course of a week!  Last month, I superglued my finger to the kitchen bench and took off a layer off skin in trying to get it off - ouch!  Yes, I know that you use nail polish remover to dissolve the superglue but hello, I was glued to the bench and was the only one home - and the nail polish remover was in the bathroom cupboard...sigh....so I just yanked my finger off instead....   

Currently, I am sitting on my couch with my left hand covered in bandaids because I managed to prune my hand as well as the bush I was pruning!  I thought I would try out the new secateurs that we were given for Christmas.  Yep:  they work and they are really sharp!  But somehow I don't think making a resolution about my clumsiness will make much difference!  And just think of the colourful anecdotes I wouldn't otherwise be able to entertain my friends and family with!
Thanks for stopping by.  Happy New Year May it be everything you would want it to be!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment - Hero Arts Snowman Christmas clear set

Ink:   Colorbox Sapphire Silk pigment

Designer paper:   SEI Glitzmas - Frosty the Snowflake, LYB Delighful Collection - Blue Lace D-110

Accessories:  Big Shot, Spellbinder Shapeabilities Create-a-Flake S4-222 dies, Kaisercraft red rhinestone, dimensionals, satin pearl embossing powder, heat-gun, cardstock: white, aqua glitter